Artists have the ability to reveal the hidden stories in the most everyday objects and in almost invisible details. Thus, Clàudia Pagès represents Catalonia and the Balearic Islands at the next Venice Art Biennale with Paper tears, a macro-installation forged from 15th-century watermarks found at the Capellades Paper Mill Museum. Watermarks, also known as filigrees, are used to identify the maker of a paper and who commissioned it. Throughout history, there have been some as simple as a cross, but also more elaborate ones, such as a coat of arms or images of real or fantastic animals. "I am not a historian; I use history during research, and I make it my own through writing and performance", says Clàudia Pagès, who is also the author of the novel Més de dues aigües (Empúries). "I use history during research – she adds –. I am a writer and a performer, and I make history my own through a mix of visual arts and writing".

At the Venice Art Biennale, everything is quite for the gallery: in each edition, almost a hundred countries from all over the world boast about their artists with the desire that, at least for a few days, politics does not overshadow the desire to show off internationally. But in the current international political situation, with Russia, Israel and the United States at war, this is still impossible. The next edition will open its doors to the public on Saturday, May 9th, with a Biennale in flames, and with the participation in the official section of Cuba, represented by Roberto Diago. The participation of Iran was planned, but on Monday afternoon the Iranian authorities issued a statement announcing that they have not been able to move forward with the pavilion. Iran had announced its presence in Venice in February before the outbreak of the war, and had announced that the curator was Aydin Mahdizadeh Tehrani. Previously, on Thursday, April 30th, the jury had resigned en bloc due to the presence of the pavilions of Russia and Israel.